Violence returns to streets of Paris

International Desk: Around 60,000 police and gendarmes were deployed in the French capital on Saturday to deal with the most violent "yellow vest" protest in recent weeks.

Act 23 of the "yellow vest" protest movement in Paris has been marred by the violence authorities had predicted would happen, with almost 200 arrests, cars and public property set on fire and tear gas and water cannons fired by police.

By 3pm, there had been 137 arrests and 14,000 searches carried out by police.

By comparison, Act 22 saw a total of 15 arrests and 5,885 searches at around the same time of day.

Most of the altercations took place around the Place de la Repubique area in the early afternoon.

Police asked non-violent "yellow vest" protesters to disassociate themselves from those causing trouble.

Anywhere between 1,500 and 2,000 'ultra-jaunes' radical protesters were expected to descend on the city during Act 23 of weekend 'yellow vest' protests.

Only two of the four demonstrations that were organized had been approved by city authorities.

The first, which started roughly around midday, saw thousands of 'yellow vests' march through the Paris neighbourhood of Bercy in the 12th arrondissement, home to country's Ministry of Finance.

The second left from Saint-Denis basilica in the Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis at 1pm.

By 11am local time, 70 people had already been arrested in central Paris. According to police figures, by 1.30pm that number had gone up to 126 arrests. Officers had also carried out 11,000 searches by 1pm.

Paris bore the brunt of Saturday's protests, but othe French cities such as Toulouse in the south also experienced tensions between protesters and police.

Earlier this month, French President Emmanuel Macron signed into law legislation that gave security forces greater powers at demonstrations but which opponents claimed violated civil liberties.

Agencies

risingbd/Dhaka/Apr 21, 2019/Nasim